Kurdistan Workers Party militants kill two soldiers and wound 31 in an overnight suicide attack in eastern Turkey, the army says, as violence escalates following Ankara's air bombardment targeting Kurdish militants.

The master recording of Emperor Hirohito's speech announcing Japan's World War II surrender has been brought back to life in digital form, ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of the war on September 2.

Heavy rainfall in northern Vietnam has killed at least 17 people and inundated major coal mines, causing concern among environmentalists about the contamination of the nation's top tourist attraction and World Heritage-listed Ha Long Bay.

A week of persistent rain in Quang Ninh province has displaced thousands of people as houses and roads deluged by floodwater runoff from 16 open pit coal mines and three coal-fired power plants escape.